•lOBERT   E.  COWAN  COLLECTION 

I'KKSI-:NTI51>    TO    Till: 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


C.  P.  HUNTINGTON 

,-JUNE.   I. 

Accession  No  Class  No 


SCULPTURED  ANTHROPOID  APE   HEADS 


FOUND   IN  OR  NEAR  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  JOHN  DAY  RIVER, 
A  TRIBUTARY  OF  THE  COLUMBIA  RIVER,  OREGON, 


BY 

JAMES  TERRY 


NEW  YORK 
i8gi 


SCULPTURED  ANTHROPOID  APE   HEADS 


FOUND   IN  OR  NEAR  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  JOHN  DAY  RIVER, 
A  TRIBUTARY  OF  THE  COLUMBIA  RIVER,  OREGON, 


BY 

JAMES  TERRY 


OF  THB 

UNIVERSITY 


NEW   YORK 


THE  Columbia  valley  and  its  tributaries  offers  as  rich  a  field  to  the 
archaeologist  as  it  has  revealed  to  the  paleontologist,  and  it  has  been 
my  good  fortune  to  secure  a  large  amount  of  material  there,  which  will 
serve  as  a  basis  for  several  papers. 

The  present  paper  treats  especially  of  three  remarkable  stone  heads 
from  this  region,  which  are  here  figured  and  described  for  the  first  time. 

The  plates  of  these  sculptures  were  made  by  the  artotype  process, 
being  photographs  in  printing  ink,  executed  by  the  well-known  firm  of 
E.  Bierstadt  of  New  York  city.  Figures  i,  2,  3,  and  4  are  natural  size, 
taken  by  him  directly  from  the  objects.  Figures  5  and  6  are  half  natural 
size,  also  taken  from  the  object,  by  an  artist  in  Oregon,  and  the  negative 
sent  to  Mr.  Bierstadt  for  reproduction.  I  have  not  had  the  latter  speci 
men  before  me  in  preparing  the  present  paper,  but  I  examined  it  in 
1882,  when  I  obtained  the  specimen  represented  on  Plate  I. 

I  here  acknowledge  my  obligations  to  the  kindness  of  Professor 
O.  C.  Marsh  of  Yale  University,  and  Professor  T.  Condon  of  Oregon, 
in  permitting  me  to  examine  and  describe  their  specimens  represented 
in  Plates  II.  and  III.  IV  tjV. 

J.  T. 


SCULPTURED  ANTHROPOID  APE   HEADS, 

FROM  OREGON. 


IT  is  not  my  intention,  in  the  present  brief  notice  of  the  remarkable 
pieces  of  sculpture  here  described,  to  offer  any  assertions  based  upon 
an  autochthonous  theory  as  to  the  origin  of  man  on  this  continent,  or 
the  more  generally  accepted  theory  of  his  migration  from  the  Asiatic 
continent.  The  advocates  of  either  hypothesis,  in  the  present  state  of 
the  science,  have  but  little  to  substantiate  their  position.  The  literature 
of  American  anthropology  is  already  so  filled  with  opposing  theories 
that  it  appalls  the  student  who  undertakes  to  unravel  the  contradistinc 
tions  of  its  many  writers,  and  hence  I  shall  try  to  avoid  further  compli 
cation. 

I  may,  however,  be  permitted  to  review  briefly  the  theories  of 
some  recent  writers  who  advocate  a  hyperborean  origin  for  primitive 
man  on  this  continent,  more  particularly  in  the  region  where  these 
sculptures  were  found.  I  shall  also  call  attention  to  some  of  their  state 
ments  which  appear  to  be  controverted  by  archaeological  research ; 
making  no  claims  for  my  position  as  final,  but  bearing  in  mind  the 
importance  which  authentic  material  should  always  have  in  determining 
any  conclusion  on  the  subject. 

Philologists  have  long  contended  that  true  anthropologic  investi 
gation  must  look  to  language  as  a  foundation-stone.  Cuno  maintains 
that  race  is  not  co-extensive  with  language  ;  Posche,  that  anthropology 
and  archaeology  must  supplant  and  correct  the  conclusions  of  philology  ; 
M.  Broca,  that  physical  characteristics  command  the  position  in  deter 
mining  the  consanguinity  of  races.  With  these  conflicting  positions  of 
men  eminent  in  their  attainments,  it  is  with  a  sense  of  relief  that  we 
turn  to  these  specimens  of  a  past  people,  which  by  their  immutable  char 
acter  reveal  to  us  some  lieht  as  to  their  origin. 


6  SCULPTURED  APE   HEADS. 

Most  of  our  archaeological  material  (material  strictly  archaic,  Pre- 
columbian)  north  of  Mexico  is  remotely  separated  from  any  philological 
or  physiological  connections.  Particularly  is  this  the  case  with  the  stone 
sculptures  of  the  Columbia  valley,  unless  it  be  conceded  that  the  tribes 
inhabiting  that  valley  at  the  time  of  European  occupancy  were  related 
to  these  remains.  To  this  last  I  cannot  assent,  for  these  sculptures 
would  then  probably  have  held  such  a  high  status  in  their  limited  devel 
opment  of  progress  as  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of  Lieutenant 
Broughton,  and  Lewis  and  Clark,  and  been  mentioned  by  them. 

Mr.  George  Gibbs,  in  his  well-known  memoir, *  speaks  of  these 
Indians  as  follows:  "  No  division  of  tribes  into  clans  is  observable, 
"  nor  any  organization  similar  to  the  eastern  tribes,  neither  have 
"  the  Indians  of  this  territory  emblematical  distinction  resembling  the 
"  totem." 

Mr.  Stephen  Powers,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  California  Academy 
of  Sciences,  f  mentions  that  the  present  tribes  of  Indians  in  California 
all  use  implements  (such  as  mortars,  pestles,  pipes,  and  stone  daggers) 
of  a  quality  inferior  to  those  used  by  the  aboriginals,  and  that  when  one 
of  the  present  Indians  is  found  using  an  article  of  superior  manufacture, 
he  will  acknowledge  that  he  did  not  make  it,  but  found  it.  In  my  inter 
course  with  the  tribes  of  the  Columbia  valley,  the  Yakimas,  Warm 
Spring,  Nez  Perces,  and  others,  they  invariably  answered  my  inquiries 
regarding  the  origin  of  these  archaic  specimens,  and  the  many  other 
sculptured  pieces  found  in  this  region,  by  saying  that  they  had  no 
knowledge  or  tradition  concerning  them.  The  lack  of  any  evidence  to 
connect  the  tribes  of  this  valley  with  these  sculptures  warrants  us  in 
considering  them  as  archaic  specimens  dissociated  from  any  relation  with 
historic  tribes. 

The  specimen  represented  on  Plates  I.  and  II.  is  one  of  the 
results  of  my  researches  in  the  Columbia  valley  in  1882,  and  is  now  in 
my  collection  at  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York 
city.  The  specimen  represented  on  Plates  III.  and  IV.  was  found  by 
Professor  O.  C.  Marsh,  is  now  in  the  collection  of  Yale  University,  and 
was  the  first  one  of  these  sculptures  brought  to  light.  Professor  Marsh, 
in  his  address  on  Vertebrate  Life  in  America,  delivered  before  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  at  Nashville, 

"  Contributions  to  American  Ethnology,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  184.     1877. 
f  "  Proceedings  California  Academy  of  Sciences,"  Vol.  V.,  p.  392.      1875. 


SCULPTURED  APE   HEADS.  7 

Tennessee,  August  30,  1877,  makes  the  following  reference  to  this 
sculpture,  and  some  other  similar  specimens  : 

"It  is  far  from  my  intention  to  add  to  the  many  theories  extant  in 
"  regard  to  the  early  civilizations  in  this  country,  and  their  connections 
"with  the  primitive  inhabitants  or  the  later  Indians,  but  two  or  three 
"  facts  have  recently  come  to  my  knowledge  which  I  think  worth  men- 
"  tioning  in  this  connection.  On  the  Columbia  River  I  have  found 
"evidence  of  the  former  existence  of  inhabitants  much  superior  to  the 
"  Indians  at  present  there,  and  of  which  no  tradition  remains.  Among 
"  many  stone  carvings  which  I  saw  there  were  a  number  of  heads  which 
"  so  strongly  resembled  those  of  apes  that  the  likeness  at  once  suggests 
"  itself.  Whence  came  these  sculptures,  and  by  whom  were  they  made  ?  " 

The  specimen  represented  on  Plate  V.  is  in  the  collection  of  Pro 
fessor  Thomas  Condon  of  Oregon. 

These  three  specimens  were  found  in  or  near  the  valley  of  the  John 
Day  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Columbia.  They  would  be  classed  by 
archaeologists  as  "  surface  finds,"  a  classification  that  would  cover  a  large 
proportion  of  the  archaic  remains  of  the  valley,  from  the  fact  that  the 
shifting  sand  dunes,  which  were  largely  utilized  for  burial  purposes,  are 
continually  bringing  them  to  the  surface  and  exposing  them.  Each 
specimen  is  clearly  a  complete  object  in  itself,  never  having  formed  a 
part  of  any  larger  sculpture  from  which  it  might  have  been  detached 
or  broken.  They  were  carved  from  a  dark,  pumiceous,  basaltic  rock, 
abundance  of  which  is  found  in  the  valley. 

The  specimen  on  Plates  I.  and  II.  is  made  from  an  open  porous 
bowlder  of  basalt,  the  structure  of  which  is  very  effectively  brought  out 
by  the  print.  The  exterior  has  been  entirely  worked  with  the  exception 
of  about  one-half  of  the  surface  of  the  left  side,  and  the  top  of  the  second, 
third,  and  fourth  corrugations,  all  of  which  exhibit  the  natural  surface 
of  the  rock.  The  broad,  flat  nose,  with  supporting  cheeks,  and  the 
contractions  or  corrugations  of  the  forehead,  are  characteristics  of  the 
ape  family  which  will  attract  the  attention  of  specialists  in  this  branch 
of  zoology,  a  branch  with  which  the  writer  lays  no  claim  to  famil 
iarity.  The  mouth  and  chin  of  this  specimen  are  clearly  represented  in 
Plate  II. 

In  Professor  Marsh's  specimen,  shown  on  Plates  III.  and  IV.,  the 
nose  is  represented  by  two  round  protuberances  similar  to  the  eyes,  but 
smaller  and  closer  together.  The  mouth  is  distended,  exhibiting  the 


8  SCULPTURED  APE   HEADS. 

teeth,  of  which  there  are  eleven.  The  corrugations  of  the  forehead 
are  intensified  and  project  forward,  as  represented  by  Plate  IV.,  both  of 
which  features  would  seem  to  indicate  anger.  This  specimen  is  made 
from  a  close,  compact  bowlder  of  basalt,  which  exhibits  the  natural  sur 
face  except  in  the  sculptured  parts. 

Plate  V.  represents  Mr.  Condon's  specimen,  half  natural  size.  His 
conclusions  regarding  the  sculpture  are  contained  in  his  letter,  which  is 
printed  in  the  foot-note  below.*  The  "front  view"  referred  to  was  so 
disproportionate  that  I  asked  for  another  negative  giving  a  face  view  on 
the  line  of  centre  of  the  object,  which  is  the  one  now  represented  in  the 
plate.  The  "small,  mortar-like  cavities"  mentioned  are  fully  shown  in 
the  profile  view.  To  Mr.  Condon's  hypothesis  of  its  use,  drawn  from 
the  little  cup-like  mortars,  I  must  beg  to  take  exception,  for  it  cannot  be 
shown  that  the  Indians  have  any  knowledge  of  these  sculptures;  in  fact, 
as  previously  stated,  the  contrary  is  known.  Regarding  its  being  the 
copy  of  some  figurehead  of  a  Malay  proa,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
there  are  three  or  more  of  these  sculptures  known,  each  with  a  distinctive 
character,  and  all  of  them  found  east  of  the  Cascade  Mountains,  a  dis 
tance  of  two  hundred  miles  from  the  coast,  and  with  several  intervening 
tribes  who  have  failed  to  preserve  any  features  of  a  proa  or  junk  figure 
among  their  carvings,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  over  one  hundred  of 
these  derelicts  of  the  sea  have  been  cast  on  our  northwest  coast. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Dall,  whose  scholarly  attainments  in  ethnology  are  enti 
tled  to  respect,  remarks,  in  his  admirable  paper  f  on  the  "  Tribes  of  the 
"  Extreme  North  West,"  that  he  sees  "  no  reason  for  disputing  the 

"  November  15,  1890. 
*  "  MR.  JAMES  TERRY, 

"  Dear  Sir: — I  have  just  filled  my  promise  of  a  week  ago  by  consigning  to  the  care  of 
Wells,  Fargo  &  Co.'s  Express  those  two 'negatives  you  asked  for.  I  am  afraid  I  have  taken  a  little  too  much 
liberty,  though,  in  a  slight  departure  from  your  instructions  in  regard  to  the  front  view.  If  you  would  pre 
fer  it  perfectly  level  and  will  write  me  at  once  I  will  have  it  taken  level.  I  asked  the  artist  to  tilt  it  forward 
a  little  so  as  to  show  the  small,  mortar-like  cavities  of  the  summit.  Many  minute  mortars  are  found  in  Oregon 
with  cavities  like  these,  and  I  once  asked  an  old  Indian  what  they  made  of  them.  His  answer  was  ".  .  . 
We  make  medicines  (in  those)  for  sick  eyes."  Starting  from  this  suggestion  I  thought  it  probable  that  this 
head  was  owned  by  an  Indian  doctor ;  and  he  used  the  sacredness  he  attached,  and  perhaps  his  patients 
attached,  to  this  head  as  adding  to  the  efficacy  of  his  treatment.  In  regard  to  the  gorilla  likeness  and  the 
inquiry  where  the  Indians  got  it,  I  would  say:  I  have  drifted  into  the  conviction  that  some  Malay  proa  with 
a  wooden  figurehead  like  this  may  have  been  wrecked  on  our  coast.  The  Indians  would  think  it  a  Godsend 
and  give  this  permanent  form  in  stone.  If  you  would  like  any  modification,  write  me. 

"  Truly  yours, 

"  THOMAS  CONDON." 
f  "  Contributions  to  American  Ethnology,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  95.     1877. 


SCULPTURED    APE    HEADS.  9 

"  hypothesis  that  America  was  peopled  from  Asia  originally,  and  that 
"  there  were  successive  waves  of  emigration  ; "  thus  casting  doubt  upon 
a  southwestern  immigration.  In  his  last  chapter  to  Nadaillac's  "  Pre 
historic  America,"  p.  523,  he  modifies  his  former  view  as  follows: 
"  Probably  the  American  races  entered  by  both  gates." 

Dr.  Daniel  Wilson*  maintains  that,  "From  some  one  of  the  early 
"centres  of  South  American  population,  planted  on  the  Pacific  coasts  by 
"  Polynesian  or  other  migration,  and.  nursed  in  the  neighboring  valleys 
"  of  the  Andes  in  remote  prehistoric  times,  the  predominant  southern 
"  race  diffused  itself,  or  extended  its  influence  through  many  ramifica- 
"  tions.  It  spread  northward  beyond  the  Isthmus,  expanded  throughout 
"  the  peninsular  region  of  Central  America,  and  after  occupying  for  a 
"  time  the  Mexican  plateau,  it  overflowed  along  either  side  of  the  great 
"  mountain  chain,  reaching  towards  the  northern  latitudes  of  the  Pacific, 
"  and  extending  inland  to  the  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  through  the 
"  great  valley  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  It  must 
"  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  such  a  hypothesis  of  migration  im- 
"  plies  the  literal  diffusion  of  a  single  people  from  one  geographical 
"  centre.  There  is  as  little  reason  for  designating  either  the  Toltecs 
"  or  the  Mound-Builders,  Peruvians,  as  for  calling  the  Iranian  Indo-Ger- 
"  mans,  Greeks.  But  many  archaeological  traces  seem  to  indicate  just 
"  such  affinities  between  the  former  as  have  been  suggested  by  the  philo- 
"  logical  relations  of  the  latter." 

Since  Dr.  Wilson  announced  this  hypothesis,  evidence  has  accumu 
lated,  from  exploration  of  mounds  in  the  Mississippi  valley  and  among 
the  ruined  pueblos  of  the  southwestern  Territories,  to  strengthen  a 
theory  of  migration  northward  from  the  tropical  centres  of  population. 

The  late  Lewis  H.  Morgan  claimed  the  Columbia  valley  as  the 
nursery  of  man  on  the  American  continent,f  basing  his  conclusions 
almost  wholly  on  linguistic  grounds,  and  the  enormous  quantity  of  fish 
which  the  Columbia  River  afforded  to  sustain  life.  He  makes  no  refer 
ence  to  archaeological  remains  in  that  valley,  from  the  fact  that  no  work 
in  that  direction  had  been  prosecuted  there  at  the  time  of  his  writing. 
Starting  with  the  fact  that  more  numerous  dialects  of  different  stock 
languages  existed  there  than  in  any  other  equal  area  on  the  continent, 
and  that  a  bountiful  fish  subsistence  was  to  be  had  with  little  exertion, 

*  "  Prehistoric  Races,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  347.      1876. 

f  "  Indian  Migrations."     North  Amciican  Kevieiv,  October,  1868,  and  January,  1870. 
2 


10  SCULPTURED   APE   HEADS. 

Mr.  Morgan  claimed  that  an  increase  of  numbers  was  favored,  which 
forced  out  the  surplus  population  into  lines  of  migration  still  going  on 
at  the  time  of  European  occupancy. 

He  claims,  first,  that  the  mountain  chains  suggested  and  afforded 
the  main  line  of  migration.  This  would  certainly  imply  a  subsistence  by 
the  chase,  an  entirely  new  and  different  mode  of  sustenance  from  that  of 
fishing ;  besides,  the  mountains  are  heavily  timbered  and  extremely  diffi 
cult  to  travel  and  hunt  game  in.  He  has  overlooked  the  parallelism  of 
the  four  rivers,  the  Cowlitz,  Willamette,  Sacramento,  and  San  Joaquin, 
whose  waters  nearly  connect,  from  Puget  Sound  to  the  Gulf  of  Cali 
fornia,  and  thus  favored  a  manner  of  life  to  which  the  natives  were 
already  accustomed,  and  which  might  have  served  as  a  line  of  migration 
in  either  direction. 

His  secondary  lines  of  migration  are  the  rivers,  giving  as  the  most 
probable  route  the  Saskatchewan  first,  the  Arkansas  second,  and  the 
Platte  third.  He  afterwards  changes  this  and  gives  the  Platte  first  and 
Saskatchewan  second,  and  states  that  an  overflow  from  the  Columbia 
would  reach  Patagonia  sooner  than  Florida,  ignoring  the  fact  that  the 
headwaters  of  the  Columbia  and  the  Missouri  are  only  separated  a  few 
miles  by  the  high  divide  of  the  continent,  from  the  summit  of  which  both 
valleys  are  visible.  He  classes  the  route  by  the  Missouri  and  the  Platte 
as  belonging  to  the  central  prairie  region,  where  the  buffalo  abounded 
by  tens  of  thousands,  and  which  was  the  nursery  of  the  elk  and  antelope  ; 
but  claims  that  without  the  horse  the  Indian  hunter  was  powerless  to 
provide  for  his  wants. 

At  the  date  of  Mr.  Morgan's  writing  the  buffalo  existed  in  such 
enormous  numbers  that  a  stampede  of  a  herd  over  a  bluff  or  precipice 
would  secure  hundreds  of  them.  Father  Hennepin,  in  his  travels  in 
1679,  mentions  that  a  tribe  surrounded  a  herd  of  buffalo,  and  then 
setting  fire  to  the  grass  and  lying  in  ambush,  slaughtered  them  by  the 
thousand.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  Indian  and  his  progenitors 
were  capable,  without  the  horse,  of  securing  buffalo  sufficient  for  their 
mode  of  life,  and  an  abundance  to  promote  a  line  of  migration  eastward 
by  the  Missouri  route,  if  there  was  an  overflow  from  the  Columbia  in 
that  direction. 

The  main  force  of  Mr.  Morgan's  reasoning  lies  in  the  fact,  that  so 
many  spoken  dialects  of  several  different  stock  languages  existed  in  the 
Columbia  valley  when  discovered  by  the  present  white  race,  assuming  of 


SCULPTURED   APE   HEADS.  J    II 


course  that  they  must  have  originated  there.  To  quote  his  exact 
words  :  "  The  several  stocks  belonging  to  the  Ganowanian  family  who 
"  were  found  in  the  possession  of  the  land  are  to  be  regarded  as  the 
"  descendants  and  representatives  of  an  original  stock,  which  flowed  out 
"  in  successive  streams  from  some  original  centre.  The  remoteness  in 
"  the  past  of  their  first  establishment  must  be  estimated  by  the  time 
"  required  to  create  the  present  diversity  of  speech  both  in  dialects  and 
"stock  languages." 

The  condition  of  the  human  race  is  one  of  progression,  and  that 
progression  is  exemplified  by  a  development  of  the  arts  and  of  a  social 
status  in  a  degree  commensurate  with  the  parent  language  and  dialect  ; 
the  one  being  a  natural  accompaniment  of  the  other,  and  both  of  them 
the  results  of  a  long  period  of  time.  The  "  great  antiquity  "  which  Mr. 
Morgan  claims  for  the  development  of  the  different  dialects  proceeding 
from  that  "original  centre,"  the  Columbia  valley,  should  have  carried 
with  it  those  other  accessories  which  accompany  the  progress  and  devel 
opment  of  the  human  race,  characterized  by  the  arts  and  civil  advance 
ment,  as  well  as  language. 

No  mention  is  made  by  Lieutenant  Broughton,  who  entered  this 
river  in  1792,  or  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  of  any  confederacy  existing  among 
the  tribes  at  the  dates  of  their  visits.  Each  tribe  appeared  to  be  gov 
erned  within  itself,  and  carried  on  a  trade  or  barter  extending  from  the 
Chinook  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  to  the  Chopunnish  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  All  of  the  extinct  village  sites  which  I  have  visited,  and 

^3 

which  correspond  nearly  with  all  the  village  sites  mentioned  by  Lewis 
and  Clark,  as  well  as  many  others  not  referred  to  by  them,  bear  no  evi 
dence  of  a  great  antiquity.  No  remains  of  any  fortifications,  houses,  or 
structures  are  to  be  found.  Many  of  the  stone  and  bone  implements  are 
of  a  similar  character  to  those  of  California.  The  stone  pipes,  of  which 
there  have  been  only  two  or  three  found,  are  identical  with  those  of 
California,  although  Lewis  and  Clark  mention  pipes  of  hard  wood. 
The  sculptures  evince  a  higher  degree  of  art-advancement  and  belong 
possibly  to  a  different  epoch. 

The  prolific  resources  of  the  Columbia  River  in  the  salmon  season 
are  of  such  vital  importance  to  nomadic  tribes,  that  its  reputation  would 
rapidly  extend  up  and  down  the  coast  and  eastward,  as  I  have  before 
mentioned,  and  bring  many  different-speaking  tribes  together  on  this 
common  ground,  which  has  remained  neutral  to  this  day. 


12  SCULPTURED   APE   HEADS. 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  through  some  of  its 
writers,  advocates  a  northern  origin  for  that  extensive  population  of  the 
Mississippi  valley  and  its  tributaries,  commonly  called  the  Mound  Build 
ers.  Mr.  Holmes,  in  his  article  on  "  Ancient  Pottery  of  the  Mississippi 
"Valley,"*  makes  the  following  statement:  "  Taken  as  a  whole  the 
•'  remains  of  the  Mound  Builders  would  seem  to  point  to  a  hyperborean 
"origin  for  both  the  people  and  their  arts."  This  is  followed  by  descrip 
tions  and  illustrations  of  ceramic  forms,  which  point  strongly  to  a  southern 
influence  and  affiliation  allied  to  that  of  Mexico  and  Peru.  The  conch 
and  clam-shell  forms  of  pottery  described  are  represented  by  species  the 
nearest  of  which  geographically  are  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  These  forms 
of  pottery  are  found  in  the  mounds  along  that  great  highway  of  migra 
tion,  the  Mississippi  River,  and  from  this  "  focal  centre,"  as  he  regards 
it,  south  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  These  forms  disappear  altogether  north 
of  the  Missouri  River,  and  all  evidences  of  the  fictile  art  disappear  en 
tirely  to  the  westward  of  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone  River.  This  fact, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  absence  of  any  pottery  sherds  from  the 
Gulf  of  California  to  the  Behring  Sea  along  the  Pacific  coast,  has  an 
important  bearing  as  to  the  ethnic  relations  of  these  two  areas.  The 
water-jars  and  head-shaped  vases  described  and  illustrated  in  this  article 
by  Mr.  Holmes,  and  of  which  my  own  collection  contains  a  still  larger 
and  more  comprehensive  series,  exhibit  such  a  marked  similarity  to  those 
of  Mexico  and  Peru,  that  the  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  the  art,  cus 
toms,  and  culture  of  these  countries,  shown  by  this  archaeological  evi 
dence,  extended  to  and  covered  a  large  portion  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
There  has  been  as  yet  nothing  obtained  from  the  mounds  to  sustain  a 
theory  of  hyperborean  origin  for  the  arts  they  contain. 

This  same  writer,  in  his  article  on  "Art  in  Shell  of  the  Ancient 
"  Americans,"  f  speaking  of  an  engraved  gorget  \  from  a  mound  in  south- 

*  "  Fourth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,"  p.  375.     1882. 

f  "  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,"  p.  305.     1880. 

\  The  facts  regarding  this  gorget  are  as  follows  :  It  was  found  in  a  mound  near  Charleston,  Missouri, 
in  1877,  in  connection  with  pottery  now  in  my  collection,  by  a  Mr.  Lane,  who  had  been  opening  mounds  in 
that  vicinity,  and  whom  I  afterwards  employed  in  my  work  in  that  locality.  I  purchased  it,  together  with 
his  other  mound  material,  and  received  an  order  from  Mr.  Lane  on  Colonel  A.  L.  Whitly,  to  whom  he  had 
loaned  the  gorget,  to  deliver  it  to  me.  Upon  my  presenting  the  order  to  Colonel  Whitly,  he  informed  me  he 
had  in  turn  loaned  it  to  Professor  Potter  of  Washington  University,  where  it  has  since  remained.  This 
statement  is  made  to  show  its  authenticity,  and  to  bring  out  the  fact  that  this  gorget  was  found  associated 
with  mound  pottery,  and  in  such  connection  as  to  show  that  it  was  contemporaneous  with  the  pottery,  and 
that  it  did  not  belong  to  an  "  age  of  shell  "  distinctively,  as  Mr.  Holmes  has  classed  it. — J.  T. 


SCULPTURED   APE   HEADS.  13 

eastern  Missouri,  is  "forced  to  the  conclusion  that  it  must  be  the  off- 
"  spring  of  the  same  beliefs  and  customs  and  the  same  culture  as  the 
"  art  of  Mexico."  It  is  difficult  to  understand  upon  what  grounds  he  refers 
all  the  articles  of  shell  enumerated  and  illustrated  in  his  paper  to  "  an 
"  age  of  shell  supplementing  the  age  of  stone."  A  large  proportion  of 
the  specimens  described  were  found  in  mounds  and  graves,  associated 
with  articles  of  stone  and  pottery  in  such  juxtaposition  as  to  leave  no 
doubt  of  their  belonging  to  and  being  made  by  the  same  people  that 
fashioned  the  implements  of  stone  and  vessels  of  clay. 

On  the  Pacific  coast,  there  have  been  opened  under  my  direction 
and  supervision  upwards  of  seven  thousand  tombs,  and  I  have  in  my 
collection  probably  the  largest  amount  of  material  known,  pertaining  to 
the  coast  races  between  the  Gulf  of  California  and  Puget  Sound.  All 
the  shell,  stone,  and  bone  specimens  of  the  California  coast  are  found 
so  intimately  associated  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  their  common  origin. 
Beads  of  serpentine  and  bone  are  found  inlaid  with  beads  of  shell ; 
stone  mortars  and  serpentine  bowls  are  inlaid  and  ornamented  with 
the  brilliant  haliotis  and  other  shell  ornaments,  and  the  same  applies 
to  pestles,  spindlewhorls,  and  other  articles.  So  far  as  any  evidence 
furnished  by  the  Wheeler  Survey  Report  or  my  own  investigations  on 
the  Pacific  coast  have  revealed,  man's  ability  to  master  stone,  bone, 
and  shell  was  here  co-equal  and  contemporaneous,  and  not,  as  Mr. 
Holmes  asserts,*  "  after  a  certain  mastery  over  materials  had  been 
"  achieved." 

The  influence  of  Polynesian  life,  with  its  customs  and  usages,  in  the 
Columbia  valley  and  along  the  coast  below,  is  exemplified  by  a  simi 
larity  of  stone  implements,  which  reflects  much  more  than  a  mere  inci 
dent  in  the  life  of  a  semi-barbarous  race,  even  though  placed  under  a 
similar  environment.  The  mere-mere  stone  weapon  of  the  Maori  chiefs 
of  New  Zealand,  made  of  the  beautiful  nephrite,  represents  an  emblem  of 
rank  of  the  most  eminent  degree,  and  is  the  most  highly  valued  of  their 
possessions.  Examples  of  this  implement  made  of  green  serpentine  are 
found  in  the  Columbia,  Willamette,  Rogue,  and  Klamath  river  valleys. 
The  club  head-stones  of  New  Britain  and  New  Guinea  are  known  in 
large  numbers  from  the  California  graves,  and  a  few  are  found  up  to  and 
including  the  Columbia  valley. 

*  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p-  187.     1883. 


14  SCULPTURED   APE   HEADS. 

The  finding  of  nephrite  bowlders  in  the  river  gravels  of  the  north 
west  coast  *  has  relieved  the  necessity  of  ascribing  the  few  implements 
made  of  this  material,  and  found  in  Central  America,  Mexico,  and  the 
Columbia  and  Frazer  river  valleys,f  to  Asiatic  origin,  or  a  migration  even 
from  the  cliff  in  Alaska,  described  by  F.  W.  Clark.  J 

The  "color  of  spring,"  which  has  been  applied  to  jadeite  and  nephrite 
stones,  seemingly  has  some  inherent  virtue  in  the  eyes  of  barbaric  and 
semi-civilized  races.  The  calchahuitils  of  the  Aztecs,  the  jadeites  of  the 
Chinese  and  Lake  dwellers,  the  nephrite  of  Polynesia,  and  the  serpen 
tines  of  California  have  all  stimulated  the  highest  skill  and  a  vast  amount 
of  patient  labor,  when  used  by  these  races  for  their  most  cherished 
objects. 

The  evidences  of  recent  geological  changes  in  the  Columbia  valley, 
as  shown  in  the  submerged  forest  mentioned  by  Lewis  and  Clark,§  and 
also  by  Dr.  J.  S.  Newberry,|  are,  for  obvious  reasons,  of  a  comparatively 
modern  date,  and  may  have  had  an  important  influence  upon  the  people 
dwelling  near  this  river.  The  Indians  have  a  tradition,  that  at  one  time 
a  great  natural  bridge  spanned  the  river  at  the  Cascades,  which,  having 
fallen,  dammed  the  river  and  caused  the  present  rapids.  There  are  also 
evidences  that  certain  localities  of  the  lower  Columbia  must  have  met 
with  great  changes,  although  I  find  no  mention  made  of  it  by  geologists 
or  the  early  travellers.  Indications  point  to  a  large  community  existing 
upon  Sauvies  Island,  at  the  junction  of  the  Willamette  and  Columbia 
rivers,  a  place  which  at  the  present  day  has  two  inundations  every  year, 
rendering  it  uninhabitable  over  six  months  of  the  time.  It  would  hardly 
have  been  selected  as  a  village  site  under  these  circumstances.  A  sys 
tematic  geological  survey  of  this  valley  is  necessary  for  determining  any 
data  as  to  these  changes,  and  their  probable  influence  upon  the  native 
races. 

Professor  Whitney,  in  his  "  Auriferous  Gravels  of  the  Sierra  Nevada," 
p.  288,  reaches  the  following  conclusion  :  "That  there  is  a  large  body  of 
"  evidence,  the  strength  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  deny,  which  seems 
'  to  prove  that  man  existed  in  California  previous  to  the  cessation  of 

*G.  M.  Dawson,  "Canadian  Record  of  Science,"  Vol.  II.,  No.  6,  p.  364, 1887  ;  J.  Terry,  "  Science,' 
p.  16.  January,  1890. 

f  I  am  unaware  of  a  single  specimen  of  this  material  having  been  found  in  California. 
\  "  Proceedings  of  United  States  National  Museum,"  Vol.  XI.     1888. 
§  "  Lewis  and  Clark"  (edition  1814),  Vol.  II.,  p.  241. 
||  "  Pacific  Railway  Survey,"  Vol.  VI.,  pp.  43--5&.     1857. 


SCULPTURED   APE   HEADS.  15 

"volcanic  activity  in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  to  the  epoch  of  the  greatest 
"  extension  of  the  glaciers  in  that  region,  and  to  the  erosion  of  the  pres- 
"ent  river  canons  and  valleys,  at  a  time  when  the  animal  and  vegetable 
"  creation  differed  entirely  from  what  they  now  are,  and  when  the  topo- 
"  graphical  features  of  the  state  were  extremely  unlike  those  exhibited 
"  by  the  present  surface." 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  conditions  described  by  Professor 
Whitney  extended  to  the  present  valley  of  the  Columbia,  the  fauna  of 
which  may  then  have  contained  the  species  from  which  these  sculptured 
heads  were  copied. 

In  reaching  a  conclusion  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  stone  heads 
here  described,  it  would  appear,  from  our  present  knowledge,  either  that 
the  animals  which  these  carvings  represent  once  existed  in  the  Columbia 
valley,  or  that,  in  the  remote  past,  a  migration  of  natives  from  some 
region  containing  these  monkeys  reached  this  valley,  and  left  one  of  the 
vivid  impressions  of  their  former  surroundings  in  these  imperishable 
sculptures. 


EXPLANATION    OF    PLATES. 

PLATE      I.  Ape  Head  carved  in  basalt,  front  view,  natural  size;  from  the  valley  of  the 

John  Day  River,  Oregon.     James  Terry  collection. 
PLATE     II.  Side  view  of  same  head. 
PLATE  III.  Ape  Head  carved  in  basalt,  front  view,  natural  size  ;  from  the  valley  of  the 

John  Day  River,  Oregon.     Professor  O.  C.  Marsh  collection. 
PLATE    IV.  Side  view  of  same  head. 
PLATE     V.  Ape   Head  carved  in  basalt,  front  and  side  view,  about  half  natural  size  ; 

from  the  valley  of  the  Des  Chutes  River,  Oregon.     Thomas  Condon 

collection. 


PLATE   I. 


PLATE.    I 


I 


FRONT    VIEW  NATURAL   SIZE. 


SCULPTURED    STONE    HEAD.       OREGON 


COLLECTION    OF    JAMES    TERRY. 


PLATE   II. 


II    TFAJS 


PLATE.    II 


SIDE    VIEW.  NATURAL   SIZE 


SCULPTURED    STONE    HEAD.       OREGON 


COLLECTION    OF    JAMES    TERRY. 


OF  THB 

I  UNIVERSE 


PLATE  III. 


Ill   3TAJq 


PLATE.    III. 


FRONT     VIEW  NATURAL   SIZE 


SCULPTURED    STONE    HEAD.       OREGON 


COLLECTION     OF     PROF.     O.     C.     MARSH. 


R  y 
or  THB 

UNIVERSITY 


PLATE   IV. 


PLATE.    IV. 


SIDE    VIEW.  NATURAL   SIZE 


SCULPTURED    STONE    HEAD.       OREGON 


COLLECTION     OF     PROF.     O.     C.     MARSH 


PLATE   V. 


V 


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UNIVERSITY 


Press  of  J.J.  Little  &  Co. 
Astor  Place,  New  York 


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